Airship.



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5 3 SHEETS-SHEET rl.

G. PETTIGREW. AmsmP. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2b. lill.

Patentedept 24, `1918.

UNITED STATES PATENTy OFFICE.

GARFIELD PETTIGBEW, Ol ELWOOD, INDANA.

l. IBSHIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented sept. 24, 1918.

Application tiled October 25, 1917. Serial No. 198,450.

To all whom it may conoem:

Be V1t known that I, GARFIELD Pnfmicnnw, a` citizen .of the United States, and a resident of Elwood, in the county of Madison and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement 1n Alrships, of

- which the following .is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in aircraft, relating more particularly to an improvement 'in an airship of the heavierthan-air type, and it consists in the constructions, combinations, and arrangements herein" described and claimed.

- An object of my invention is to provide an airship having a plurality of impeller Wheels rotatably mounted upon axles journaled in the frame 'of the machine, -the blades of the inipeller wheels having reciprocating shutters operated by cams to open the shutters on the up-stroke andv close the shutters on the down-stroke.

Another object of my invention is to provide an air-ship as described, including im peller Wheels with an enginelfor operating the same, and a propeller with a separate whic Figurel is a side elevation of-an airship constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view. Y

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantiallyon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a detail lan view of a portion of one of the impelier Wheels showing the cam for reciprocating the shutters.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 ofFig.`

4, and 'f Fig. 6 isa perspectiveview ofone of the shutter reciprocating cams:

In carrying out my invention, Iprovid'e an airship havingv the mainr fuselagel including the .upper substantially parallel :trame members 2 and lower similarly disposed frarne members 3. The airship has the ground or landing wheels 4 and 5, the

elevating rudder 6, and 4direction rudder 7, all of these elements being of an ordinary construction.

A tractor screw or propeller 8 is mounted i upon the front of the airship, and is ro polled by an engine 9 which is contro led separately by the operator or aviator, from an eng1ne 10 which is arranged to drive two pairs of impeller wheels journaled upon the frame of the airship. i

.Two pairs ofV cross bars 11 and 12 constituting the members of a sub-frame, are mounted upon and secured upon and transversely4 of the members 2 of the fusela e 1 at the front end. The respective cross ars extend equal distances beyond the sides of the fuselage 1 as illustratedin Fig."2, and4 support bearingsl and 14, respectively, in which the axles 15 and 16 of theimpeller Wheels 17 are journaled.

The axle 15 of the impeller `wheel 17 at the left, has a sprocket 18 toA which a chain 19 is applied.

he chain 19 is driven by a sprocket 20 on the crankshaft 21 of the engine 10. The axle 16 of the impeller wheel 17 at the right, has a sprocket 22 to which afchain`23 is applied. The chair. 23 is driven by a sprocket 24 on a countershaft suitably mounted adjacent to the crank shaft 21', and which is driven by intermeshinlg gears 25, one of which is mounted upon-t crank shaft ofthe engine. The sprocket and chain connectionsl just ,described, 4obtain the rotation of the axles 15 and 16` incounter-clockwise and clockwise directions, respectively, so that the impeller 1 V wheels 17 move inwardly and toward each other with respect to the fuselage 1.1

The construction of each'of the impeller 4wheels 17 being alike, the description of but one will follow.. Attention is directed to Fig. 4 which `represents a portion of the impellerwheel17 shown at the upper right of Fig. 2. Each impeller wheel has a plurality of blades 26, secured to spokes 27 radiatingrfrom hubs 28 on `the. axle 16 of the impeller Wheel. The =hubs 28 are fixed on'the axle and when ,thewaxle isrotated, the impeller wh'eelnl.` moves `in a. clockwisedirection.

The` impeuer blades-'26 'pfegarabiy i rectangular in shape to conformf'with rthe VDIS ion`

general rectangular shape of the sub-frame on which the impeller wheels rotate. Each impeller blade 26 has outwardly fiared walls 29 which are so arranged to form a cup as'it were, and provide an air pocket by meansI of which a more stable hold or support can be gotten on the air and convey the airship upwardly.

Each impeller blade 26 has a plurality of air slots .30 preferably radiating from a center as shown. A reciprocatingshutter 31 is mounted upon 'a stud 32 at the center of` the series of air slots 30. rllhe reciprocating shutter 31 has a plurality of radiating air slots 33 stamped out of the metal of the shutter, and adapted to be moved into and out of registration with the air slots 30 over which the shutter 3l moves. r

The shutters 31 are mounted on the inside of the irnpellerA blades 26 and are held in place by guides 3 4 which engage the perim eter of each shutter. In this connection, it will be observed that the shutter 31 is of a greater diameter than the diameter which bounds the air slot `30 in the impeller blade 26. Thus, in stamping out the air Slots 33 in the shutter ,31, a solid peripheral ring is left which ,keeps the airy slots y33 equally spaced and coacts with the guides 34.

vThe shutters 31 are reciprocated to open and close the air slots 30 in the impeller blades 26 at the proper time, by a cam which is mounted upon an adjacent portion -of the sub-frame in xed relationship to 35' each of the impeller wheels. Each shutter 31 has an arm 37 secured to the ring 35 and projecting through a slot 3S in the adjacent iaring wall 29 of the impeller blade. connecting rod 39 is pivoted at one end to other end, a bifureated head 40 which engages and follows the periphery of the cam 36.. Each connecting rod 39 is guided in a bearing 41 affixed to anadjacent spoke 27.

The cam 36 consists simply of a circular platet which is twisted .laterally substantially as shown in Figs. and 6,to provide lobes 36-and 36" offset v ith. respect to each f other, vand lying in different horizontal planes. The obvious resixlt of the action of the cam' 36 on the shutters 31 is, that when the bifurcated head 40' is in Aengagement with the lobe 36, the air slots 30 are opened. When the bifurcated head 40 is in engagef ment with the lobe 36", the airV slots 30 are closed. Therefore, the ridingover of the bifurcated head 40 of the connecting rod 39 on the periphery ofthe cam 36, obtainsv thereciprocation of the slotted shutters 31 over the air slots 30 of the impeller blades 26. The cam 36 includes a sleeve 37 having a base 38 by which the cam is secured in place on an adjacent portion of the subframe.

The operation of vthe device is as follows:

the extremity of the arm 37, and has at the has flaring walls 29 to give the inipeller 70 `blade a substantially cup-shape.

The air slots 30 in the ilnpeller blades 26, begin to open on the commencement of the 11p-stroke of the individual iinpeller blades, and close on the conm'iencement of the down-stroke. The greatest resistanceis therefore obtained on the down-stroke of the inipeller blades, while the opening of the air slots 30 on the 11p-stroke, permits the passage of the air through the impeller blade and thus offers the least resistance. Obviously, by closing the air slots 30 of the impeller blades upon the commencement of the down-stroke, a certain amount of air is pocketed in the cup-shaped blade, or, in other words, a hold is gotten on the air'and the airship is lifted thereupon so that it ascends. The .reciprocating shutter 31 pro-- vided with the air slots 33 which are adapted to register with the air slots 30 in the' impeller blade 26, is reciprocated by the connecting rod 39, the head 40 of which, follows the contour of the cam 36. The cam 36 is so disposed that the shutterl of each of the impeller blades is -closed and opened at the proper time to form a' solid impeller blade on the down-stroke, and an open inipeller blade to permit the passage of the air, on the up-stroke.

The iinpeller wheels 17 are continuously movable while the airship is in flight. The impeller wheels are'rotated by the engine 10 which is controlled separately from the engine 9 which operates the propeller 8. Ordinarily when a flight is to be made, they 105 impeller Wheels 17 are started. so that the airship rises in a substantiall vertical direction. If-it be desired to ta e an oblique upward course, the propeller 8 is rotated by starting the engine 9, when thev resultant 110 of the two forces represented by the profpeller 8 and the impeller wheels 17, will be in an oblique upward direction.

While the construction and arrangement of the device as illustrated in the accom-' M5 panying drawings is that of a enetavlly preferred form, obvious modications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit' of the invention or the scope of the claims.

1. An airship ineludin a su`b-frame, an axle journaled on the subrame, an impeller wheel mounted on the axle, including a plurality of impeller blades having radial openings, a shutter pivoted upon each blade in the center of. the radial openings and rota tablethereover, and relatively fixed means having-a reciprocatable connection with each shutter for actuatingthe shutterY 13G `2.111 an airship, a rotatable axle, an im; pellerl Wheel supported on the axle and inoluding a plurality` of impeller blades hav ing side Walls and air slots, a shutter having air openings re istrable with the air, slots,`

, peller blades supported on spokes radiating from hubs `seein-edito the axle, each blade having `iiaringside Walls and radial air slots, l

a shutter pivoted on each im eller blade and having air openings registra )le with the air slots', means enga-ging each shutter at the periphery for holding the shutter in pla-ee, an arni carried by the shutter and extending through an adjacent side Wall toward the yaxle, a relatively fixed 0am including a sleeve `disposed above the axle, and a con i meeting rod pivoted atene end to the end of the arm of each shutt and having a bifuroated head at the'oiher end engaging the periphery of the itam.. A

4.*An airship including a body portion having a snbdraine, a plurality of pairs of impeller Wheels, each iiinpeller Wheel in` cluding a igrlurisility of impeller blades, ro tatable axlen jonrnaled on the sub-frame and supporting the plural pairs of impeller Wheels, an engine having driving Connections` with the axles for rotating the axles in opposite directions, shutters mounted upon the iinpeller blades, ai' "l :means for operating the shutters at the eminnieneexnent of ther down and ilp-stiL-okes ont the impeller wheels,

In an airship, a rotatable axle, an irnpeller Wheel incininted on the axle and including a ltilnrality of iinpeller blades having flared side Walls and perforated bottonis, means for rotating the axle, a relatively fixed Gain having lobes disposed in. different planes, a shutter pivoted on @abb im Jeller blade and controlling theopenings, an.' conneotione between. eaoli shutter and the cam vfor i'nfoving the Shutter of eaeh blade to uncover the openings at the eonnneifleement of the lip-stroke oit each `impeller blade, and cover the oliening `of each impeller blade at the eonnneneeme t of the dowrrstroke.

GARFHEILD PETTIGREW.

Witnesses;

JAMES P. RnAnnoN, Ollas. MYERS. 

